By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
The string of successes for North Adams High School athletic programs continued on October 19 as Coach Katie Ragan and her Lady Devils volleyball squad hosted the Fairfield Lady Lions in a Division III sectional championship match. These two teams from the Southern Hills Athletic Conference have developed a rivalry over the past couple of seasons and many expected last week’s match to be a right down to the wire battle but the Lady Devils had other ideas and it resulted in them taking home yet another sectional title for NAHS.
The sectional title match was close through the first two sets as the two teams split, but the home team took over in set number three, controlling the action at the net behind the strong up front play of junior Katelynn Boerger and claimed the next two sets to advance to the district tournament, 25-16, 16-25, 25-20, 25-12.
“We were getting outhustled at a point tonight and I challenged ny team,” said Coach Ragan in her postgame radio interview. “We had them on height and that means we should win the play at the net. We struggled that second set and even into the third set. Fairfield wasn’t intimidated by us at all.”
“We had several freshmen out there on both sides and they made some good plays, they weren’t just filling a spot. They make a good play, celebrate with the team and feel part of the team. The future looks bright.”
In the opening set, the Lady Lions took an early lead only to see the home side roar back to take the lead. A kill by Ava Pistole gave the Lady Devils a 20-14 advantage. As Lindsey Nelson said on his Sunday morning Notre Dame football highlights show, “moving ahead in the action”, North Adams led 22-16 when a combination of Boerger serves and kills by Elizabeth Raines and Aulbrea Meade closed out the 25-16 win.
The edge the Lady Devils had gained with their first set victory vanished rapidly as the second set progressed, though they did have an early 8-6 lead before a 4-0 run for Fairfield gave the visitors the advantage. After North Adams reeled off four straight to go back in front, the Lady Lions took 10 of the next 12 points to go up 20-14. An overall lackluster second set for the home team ended with them absorbing a 25-16 defeat.
The Fairfield momentum carried over into the third set as they jumped out to a quick 8-2 lead before Coach Ragan burned a timeout and apparently laid down the law. The Lady Devils began to chip away at the Fairfield lead and with Meade at the service line with Boerger and Natalie Ragan dominating at the net, the home team reeled off seven straight to take their first lead of the set at 18-17. The Lady Lions rebounded long enough to take the lead back at 20-19 but that second wind for the Lady Devils continued and with Kirsten Campbell serving and Boerger getting three kills, it was North Adams taking the third set 25-20.
The third set loss seemed to take all of the fight out of the Lady Lions and the homes die took full advantage with a berth in the district tourney within their grasp. The Lady Devils raced to an 11-4 lead and never looked back, extending that margin out to a commanding 20-8 with Meade back at the service line. The outcome of the match was now a foregone conclusion and with a kill by Emma Pistole and a match-ending service ace from Boerger, the Lady Devils punched their ticket to the next round of tournament play, taking the fourth set easily 25-12.
“Our hitting and blocking were good for the most part tonight,” said Coach Ragan. “We have to do a better job of covering the holes in the middle and we struggled at times and got called for some illegal sets. Our floor game has improved as opur kids get better at reading the ball, which is a really hard skill to teach.”
The decisive win included some impressive stat lines, including:
• Katelynn Boerger- 21 kills, 10 digs, 6 blocks
• Kirsten Campbell- 14 digs
• Paige Evans- 4 kills, 29 digs
• Aulbrea Meade- 14 kills, 14 digs
• Ava Pistole- 7 digs
• Natalie Ragan- 6 kills, 34 assists, 20 digs
• Morgan Wheeler- 9 digs
The Lady Lions were the champions of the small school division of the SHAC with a 12-1 conference record and ended their season with an overall mark of 15-8. North Adams won the big school division with a perfect 13-0 conferrnce record and the sectional win improved them to 18-5 overall.
The Lady Devils now move on to the Division III district semifinals on Wednesday, October 25 at Waverly High School, where they will meet Nelsonville-York at 6 p.m. with a trip to the district title game at stake.